Posted: 03 March 2011 2120 hrs
COPENHAGEN: Europe's
biggest traditional toy maker, Lego said Thursday now counted fourth in
the global rankings after soaring sales of its colourful building
bricks in 2010, especially in the US, Britain and Eastern Europe.
Last
year, Lego sales jumped 37 per cent to 16.01 billion kroner (2.15
billion euros, $2.98 billion), with net profit soaring 69 per cent to
3.72 billion kroner.
"The result is extremely satisfactory and is
due in part to vigorous growth in markets such as the USA, UK, Russia
and Eastern Europe -- all identified as growth markets for the company,"
Lego chief Joergen Vig Knudstorp said in a statement.
The Danish
company, which in 2009 ranked fifth worldwide, said its global market
share rose to 5.9 per cent from 4.8 per cent and it was "now the world's
fourth-largest toy manufacturer."
Lego said it was growing much faster than the overall market, which was experiencing only a slow recovery.
"The
group has been capturing market share in all its markets and although
Europe is the part of the world in which consumers already own most Lego
bricks, growth has been double-digit in most European countries too,"
it said.
The family-owned company, based in the western Danish
town of Billund, has seen several years of strong growth after a deep
crisis in 2003-2004, since when it has been rapidly expanding its
factories in the Czech Republic and
Mexico.
At the end of 2010, the company counted 8,365 employees, an increase of 1,079 from a year earlier.
The global toy market is headed by world-leader Mattel and runner-up Hasbro.
-AFP
obviously no China company is making imitation Lego..................
so cool.
Good news.